Spirits In The Dark Are Waiting
by Hollyleaf The Black Cat
Summary: "They can't hurt you, you know. They're just in your head." — But Max Rockatansky doesn't know that he can ever get rid of the spirits that haunt him.


**Author's Note:** Here again is another addition to my Mad Max Meets Blurryface series. This one's title comes from a lyric in the song "Hometown." Enjoy!

* * *

 _"Max? Where were you, Max? Where were you?! You killed us, Max! You left us, Max! Where were you, Max!? Save us, Max! Help us, Max! Where were you, Max?!"_

 _He'd heard the words a thousand times by now and it was always the same little girl who was shouting at him. His daughter. Always reminding him of his greatest failure. She was the one spirit that could never leave his head, the one spirit who alone could push him toward the brink of insanity._

 _He stared at her as her body switched from her sweet self to a distorted skeleton. He wanted to run from her but he couldn't get his feet to move. She was getting closer to him, an angry look in her eye. She then swiftly reached out toward him and he defensively threw his hands up...  
_

...and woke up! He looked around and saw it was still nighttime and he was still in the desert. His hands where up in front of him and he sweating a bit. Then he noticed Furiosa standing in front of him. Her arm was stretched out toward him, but it look liked she's stopped before she touched him. She'd probably seen him having a nightmare again.

He cleared his throat. "Something up?"

"No, it's okay." she began, pulling the quilt on her shoulders tighter around her. "The rest of us have a long ride ahead of us so we're going to get some sleep. You dozed off sitting there so I thought you might need to get some too. The front seat of the rig is still open if you want, or you can always sleep out here."

"I don't...uh...I don't like sleeping too much," he said.

"Would you like to take the first watch then?" she asked. "We planned on alternating watch just in case something happens."

He just nodded and grunted in approval.

"Alright then." She started off to the rig before turning around. "They can't hurt you, you know. They're just in your head."

He just blinked at her as she continued. "I've seen a lot of people who do the same things." She paused for moment about to say something else but just shook her head. "Good night."

She turned back to the rig but he quickly spoke up. "Do they still haunt you?"

She kept her back to him as she spoke. "...Not anymore."

"How...how did you get rid of them?" he asked.

"I didn't," she began, "Sometimes I'll still see them in a dream. But it doesn't bother me."

"How-" he began before she cut him off.

"I got stronger than them. I started treating them like what they were: just spirits. You'll learn to ignore them. Then eventually you'll forget some of them. And the ones you don't forget you'll just get used to without letting them consume you."

Max thought back to his daughter. "I don't know about that."

Furiosa let out a sigh then walked over to him and placed her blanket around his shoulders. "If you get tired, wake me and I'll take watch."

He nodded again and watched as she headed back to the rig. Then he turned toward the west to start watch.

He pulled the blanket up around him more and couldn't help but think about the first time he held his little girl. Wrapped up in a blanket, crying for her mother, a wrinkly, little red thing, so tiny in his big hands. He smiled a soft, sad smile at the thought. It'd been a while since he'd been able to think of them without it turning into a nightmare.

However, that didn't last long when he noticed a figure off in the distance. He slowly stood up, trying to judge whether it was really another person or just another vision, but when he heard the word "Max" whispered he knew it was the latter.

Max sat back down on his crate, stared at the unmoving figure for a moment, and then closed his eyes. He could fight it.

"You," said another voice. It was familiar yet he couldn't place who it was.

"Road Warrior," said a second. The same thing: familiar yet who was it?

"Rockatansky," said one more. Again, he couldn't place a name.

"Max." He immediately recognized the fourth voice though. He opened his eyes and saw her standing right in front of him. It was his wife with their little girl hiding behind her leg.

He whispered her name as he slowly rose up and reached out toward her.

She had a smile on her face as he reached out to him too. Then suddenly that smile was gone and her hands where around his throat.

Max clawed his throat to try to get her let go. He felt like he couldn't breath.

"Where were you, Max?!" she asked.

Then all of a sudden he felt another pair of hands pulling his arms behind him. He couldn't turn his head to see who it was but out of the side of his eye he saw a fluttering white fabric. "You abandoned me. I didn't go under the wheel."

Then more hands were suddenly grabbing at him and trying to hold him back as his wife still continued choking him. Everyone was hissing their hate at him and every word was ringing back in his head over and over. He tried to fight them off, tried to break away from them but he just couldn't find the strength. He flailed around and he saw his daughter standing off from them. "You failed us, Max."

"You failed us, Max! You failed us, Max! You failed us, Max!" chanted everyone in unison. He felt the pressure on his neck tighten.

"Hey! Hey!" shouted another voice. "Hey!"

Suddenly he felt a clank of metal against the top of his head and the visions disappeared.

He hit the ground and saw Furiosa standing over him. They stared at each other for a moment before she held her hand out to him and helped him up.

"Sit," she said as she went and grabbed another crate from beside the rig. She sat it down beside him, grabbed the quilt from the ground, shook it off, and threw it around the both of them.

Neither said a word for a moment. "You might have a little bleeding but I don't think it'll swell," she began. "I didn't hit you as hard as I could've."

He touched the spot on the top of his head and noticed a little bit of blood on his fingertips but he just nodded.

More silence as they both just watched the light breeze blow the sand around. She then turned to look at him. "You sure you'll be ok tomorrow after we leave?"

He turned to her and nodded. "I'll make my own way...I'll be ok."

She just nodded and stared back out into the distance.

He did the same. And out in the darkness saw another figure appear. Judging by the fact that she had no reaction to it, he knew it was another vision. Another spirit waiting for him.

"I'll be ok."

* * *

Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! ;D


End file.
